ISGB Gathering

I am back from a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the annual ISGB Gathering.  ISGB stands for the International Society of Glass Beadmakers.  We are a fun loving bunch of glass melting (mostly) girls who gather once a year for education, laughs, glass melting, networking and selling our work.

I took all these guys with me and most of them found new homes.  They have flown the nest.  I must get to work on more. 

I was able to take a trip to the Acoma Pueblo, Sky City.  This pueblo is located on the top of a mesa and many of the people who live there are ceramic artists.  I was able to purchase a couple pieces of pottery and to connect with many of the artists. 

View from Sky City

It is a magical place. 

Old Town, Albuquerque

Words of Wisdom from my friend, Kim Edwards

Hands of the Maker exhibit (this is my work)

me having a good time selling at the Bead Fair

Gathering was amazing - it always is.  I am already looking forward to 2016 in New Orleans.

The Heart Bead Tutorial is finally done

Done.  Really done.  Well, I am sure I could keep on tweaking it.

But it is now available for purchase over on Etsy: 

Heart Bead Tutorial

A beginner’s guide to making beads in general and specifically about making Heart Beads.

I have been teaching introductory lampwork since 2003.  I have had the pleasure of introducing hundreds of women and a few men to the art of lampworking.  Playing with glass for the first time is a stressful and exciting time.  This Heart Bead reinforces many of the introductory techniques that a new beadmaker has just learned.  This Heart Bead Tutorial has grown out of my weekend introductory class.  This is often our first multi step bead and we usually do it on the morning of our second day together.

This tutorial is geared towards the beginning glass artist and contains instructions for many techniques including: pulling a stringer, starting your bead, heat control, dot and stripe application, working with silver wire and silver leaf, squashing, using heat to shape and more. 

This tutorial is a 6.0MB PDF file available for instant download.